Talks begin on BBC Resources Ltd

BECTU is planning a referendum of its Resources members after the first meeting with BBC management to discuss the transfer of 4,500 staff to a new company.

The referendum of members in BBC Resources will be held to establish whether there is any support for the management proposal to transfer 4,500 staff to a separate Limited company owned by the Corporation.

The move came after a meeting on Monday 23rd February, when Resources managers claimed that, in their view, most staff welcomed the proposed change into BBC Resources Ltd. Management also confirmed that the departments due to merge into the Limited company, including studios, post-production, OBs, Wood Norton hotel, and premises operations, were not currently trading at a profit on the BBC's Producer Choice internal market. A financial turn-around, they said, would take some time, depending on the ability of the Limited company to increase utilisation and break into new markets like multi-media and corporate video.

News Resources, Radio Resources, and Information and Archives are not intended to become part of the Limited company, which is planned to start trading on July 1. According to management, these sections were excluded from Resources Ltd. because they are not expected to engage in significant levels of external work. The union was alarmed by a gloomy prediction from management that some of them, particularly Radio Resources, face a difficult future due to new technology, even though they stay inside the BBC.

Resources Ltd was not, said management, a prelude to full-blown privatisation, and would remain a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BBC for the foreseable future, but the BBC refused to give a firm commitment that no privatisation would occur in the longer term.

When asked if BBC producers would have first refusal on facilities from BBC Resources Ltd, management explained that although contracts with external customers would contain some provision to recall staff and equipment in emergencies, the company's sales decisions would primarily be commercially driven.

Calls by the union for guarantees on job security, and preservation of conditions of service were met by a management request for time to consider BECTU's demands - a further meeting is due within two weeks. Resources management said that they had no projections for staffing figures in their 5-year business plan, and warned that they were unlikely to concede the 3-5 year guarantee of no redundancies and no changes in conditions of service. This prompted a union threat to ballot members for industrial action if no agreement could be reached.

The discussions did not resolve the disagreement between management and unions on the necessity of setting up Resources Ltd. Management continue to say that Resources' freedom to undertake external work is restricted without Limited company status, while the union's legal advisors believe that the level of commercial work envisaged is perfectly permissible provided the BBC invokes a number of special provisions contained in competition laws.

Senior staffing of the company was not finalised by the time of the negotiating meeting - the union had asked if the directors and top managers of Resources Ltd, including Chief Executive Rod Lynch, would be directly employed by the new company. Management promised further detail on this staffing issue, as well as a written response to a union question concerning the BBC's financial responsibilities if the company goes broke.

Union meetings are being set up around the country, and members can expect the postal referendum to take place over the next 3-4 weeks.

UNION MEETING

1315 Wednesday
25 February
Studio TC2 Television Centre